Unbeaten former Olympian Charles Conwell would have been my selection for boxing's high-risk and low-reward award winner for his talent and comparatively light paycheck for facing him.
Golden Boy Promotions has been keeping Conwell busy in hopes of moving him into a mandatory position to make a champion to defend against him. In a WBC eliminator, Conwell was on the verge of finally forcing a title match.
Jorge Perez was recruited as the likely foil for Conwell, and he seemed the safe choice, having lost four fights. With his career-best victory in his last fight, a decision over former contender Kudratillo Abdulakhorov, Perez would carry more weight for a Conwell win.
The fight was very close and hard-fought, but it seemed like Conwell was having an off night as the six-foot Perez caught Conwell coming in and cut Conwell in two places.
In the end, Perez had just enough to pull the major upset by split decision, with all scores at 115-113, two for Perez and one for Conwell.
Conwell will have to get back on the horse quickly to return to title contention, and Perez has now moved into that status.
A rematch would be welcomed, but I suspect Perez's team will quietly wait for an eventual chance at WBC and WBO champion Sebastian Fundora.
In England, Dalton Smith did everything but stop Mathieu Germain in a junior welterweight eliminator as Smith scored three knockdowns in a unanimous decision win that was tedious to watch.
The fault was more Germain's than Smith's as he fought to survive and did just that, while Smith tried to finish the fight, Germain lasted the twelve.
Scores of 119-105 and two of 117-107 for Smith.
I scored 118-106 for Smith.
Former featherweight champion Josh Warrington returned from a respite to win a unanimous decision over Asad Asif Khan in another less-than-inspiring pairing.
Warrington won by scores of 99-89, 99-90, and 97-91.
I scored 99-90 for Warrington, who Eddie Hearn spoke of looking for a bigger fight in his next outing, but I don't think Warrington has enough to beat anyone of status at this point in his career.
Boxing Challenge
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